Mucky Pups Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff show that they are happy to see the children as they enthusiastically greet them when they arrive. They value each child and interact positively with them. Children instantly become engaged in their learning. Staff know the children well and ensure there are lots of exciting opportunities for children to explore. For example, staff plant flowers with children and teach them how things grow. Staff teach children that the roots absorb water and nutrients. Children develop good physical skills. For example, they balance well on planks and practise climbing across frames, before jumping off. Staff extend these activities by giving simple instructions to increase the level of difficulty for children to follow.

Staff plan a broad and interesting curriculum, both inside and outdoors. They provide children with plenty of opportunities to develop their muscles skills in readiness for early writing. While in the outside area, children spend time creating detailed marks on the wall. They use water and paintbrushes to draw lines and circles. This helps to develop their creativity and physical skills. Children behave well. Staff sensitively support children to share the toys, take turns and to be kind to their friends.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• The manager and staff team have worked hard since the last inspection to make improvements. They have worked with the local authority and reflect on what they offer children and their families. The manager and staff discuss and assess things to make sure they are meeting all children's needs.
• Staff report they feel supported. They have regular conversations where they can discuss any concerns they may have and where the manager checks on their well-being.
• Children develop their communication and language skills well. Staff engage in thoughtful discussion and help children with their pronunciation of words. They introduce new words as children play, which helps to build on children's vocabulary and understanding. Staff ask relevant questions to encourage children's thinking. For example, while jumping off the bench, staff ask children which animals jump. Children respond with kangaroos and grasshoppers.
• Staff help children to develop their early mathematical skills. They model mathematical language and provide lots of opportunities to practise counting, number recognition, shape recognition and distance. For example, they encourage children to throw balls into numbered buckets and compare the distance from where they are standing.
• Staff know children well and support them to develop new skills. However, they tend to follow the routines closely and do not always adapt their practice to meet the needs of the younger children. For example, staff do not always give enough time and support to help those children who are still learning to follow the routines. Therefore, younger children do not always gain as much from teaching as possible.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good support. The special educational needs coordinator liaises with other professionals to ensure children receive the help they need. The manager uses additional funding to support specific children effectively.
• Staff plan specific activities to promote children's learning in different ways. Occasionally, some planned activities are not organised as well as they could be to fully engage children in their learning. For instance, staff encourage children to use the weighing scales to compare quantities of counting bears to see which are heavier and lighter. However, children do not understand what they need to do and lose focus in their learning.
• Parents praise staff's dedication. The manager listens to parents and values their input. For example, following a recent parents' consultation on dropping off and collecting children from pre-school, the manager has changed the procedure. Parents now come into the pre-school. They comment that they love to see what their children are doing that day. Furthermore, they feel able to come in and speak to their child's key person at any point, and they praise how well staff support their children's speaking skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance staff knowledge and understanding of adapting practice to support younger children and meet their specific needs
• increase staff confidence in how to identify more precisely what they want children to learn from an activity so that the teaching matches the intention.